Tennis: Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer star in US Open 'Fantastic Friday'

September 11, 2015

New York, Sep 11: "Super Saturday" is history at the US Open but rain has created a "Fantastic Friday" at Arthur Ashe Stadium with Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in starring roles.

RogerShowers postponed Thursday's scheduled women's semi-finals to Friday, US Tennis Association officials moving them ahead of the men's semi-finals to create a day of high drama on the biggest stage in tennis as Williams chases tennis history, Federer seeks his first Slam title since 2012 and Djokovic seeks his third Slam of 2015.

It comes in the first year since organizers scrapped the old "Super Saturday" schedule of men's semi-finals and women's final in one day in favor of a regular Grand Slam format, giving players a day off before their semi-final and final, weather permitting.

But this year, the last year the US Open will be played without a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, fates have tossed together four matches in a rare Friday spectacle.

Top-ranked defending champion Williams will play Italy's 43-ranked Roberta Vinci in the second women's semi-final after Romania's second-ranked Simona Halep faces Italian 26th seed Flavia Pennetta.

Williams, already holding all four major titles, is chasing the first calendar Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988 and trying to match Graf's Open Era career record of 22 Slam singles titles, two shy of Margaret Court's all-time record.

The 33-year-old American will try to match Chris Evert's Open Era record by capturing her fourth consecutive US Open singles title and set an Open Era record with her seventh career US Open title.

Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic, the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, follows against defending US Open champion Marin Cilic for a berth in Sunday's men's final.

Then comes the Broadway big finish for the other final berth when Swiss fifth seed Stan Wawrinka, the reigning French Open champion, meets 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer, trying to become, at 34, the oldest US Open men's champion since Ken Rosewall in 1970.

Williams has won all four career meetings against Vinci without dropping a set. She also is 7-0 against Pennetta and 6-1 against Halep in their career rivalries.

Only five players have completed the calendar-year sweep of the Australian, US and French Opens and Wimbledon -- Americans Don Budge in 1938 and Maureen Connolly in 1953, Australians Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969 and Margaret Court in 1970 and Germany's Graf in 1988.

Djokovic is 13-0 all-time against Cilic and if he stays perfect in the rivalry he will reach his fifth US Open final in six years, having only won the title in 2011.

Last year, Djokovic lost to Japan's Kei Nishikori in the semi-finals.

Federer has not won a major since his seventh Wimbledon title in 2012 and has not lifted the US Open trophy since 2008, but beat Djokovic in the final at Cincinnati in their US Open warm-up, avenging a loss to him in the Wimbledon final.

The odds are on a potentially classic final between Australian Open and Wimbledon winner Djokovic and Federer on Sunday.

Federer has a 21-20 lead over Djokovic in their career rivalry.

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Agencies
March 25,2020

Lausanne, Mar 25: The World Archery has hailed as a 'brave decision' the International Olympic Committee (IOC) move to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics until next year due to coronavirus pandemic.

"We commend the conscientious and brave decision taken by Tokyo 2020 and the International Olympic Committee to delay this summer's Games in the face of an unprecedented challenge to humanity," Ugur Erdener, the World Archery president, said in an official statement.

The decision to postpone the Summer Olympics was confirmed by the IOC, on Tuesday, after the organising body for the event and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to reschedule the quadrennial event in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This is not an easy situation, especially for the athletes who had been training hard for Tokyo 2020. I hope that everyone understands why this decision has been made and I urge archers around the world to retain hope and reset for this new timetable," he added.

The IOC has, however, said that the original name of Tokyo 2020 will remain intact irrespective of the fact that it will take place next year.

The Tokyo Olympic Games were slated to be held from July 24 to August 9.

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News Network
January 24,2020

Auckland, Jan 24: K L Rahul and Shreyas Iyer smashed quick-fire half-centuries, while skipper Virat Kohli made 45 as India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in the first T20 International to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series here on Friday.

Chasing a challenging 204-run target, Rahul smashed 56 off 27 balls and together with Kohli shared 99 runs for the second wicket to lay the foundation for the chase.

Later, Iyer (58 not out off 29 balls) and Manish Pandey (14 not out) remained unbeaten as India chased down the target with an over to spare.

Earlier, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor smashed scintillating half-centuries to power New Zealand to a challenging 203 for five.

Opener Munro blasted six fours and two sixes in his 42-ball 59, while skipper Williamson treated the Indian bowlers with equal disdain, hitting them out of the park four times in his 26-ball 51.

Taylor then clobbered an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls. His innings was laced with three sixes and as many fours.

Opener Martin Guptill also chipped in with a 19-ball 30.

Earlier, India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah (1/), Shardul Thakur (1/44), Yuzvendra Chahal (1/32), Shivam Dube (1/24) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/18) snapped one wicket each.

Brief Score:

New Zealand: 203 for 5 in 20 overs (Colin Munro 59, Kane Williamson 51, Ross Taylor 54; Jasprit Bumrah 1/31).

India: 204 for 4 in 19 overs (Shreyas Iyer 58 not out, K L Rahul 56, Virat Kohli 45; Ish Sodhi 2/36).

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News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram. Kohli, who is breaking cricketing records with each passing match, has a great social media following.

The 31-year old has so far made 930 posts on the platform and his social media posts continue to enthrall fans worldwide. Overall, Instagram's official account has the most number of followers and it is followed by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 200M followers.

In terms of Indians with most number of followers, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra is on the second spot with 49.9 followers while Deepika Padukone is on the third place with 44.1 followers.

Last year, Kohli had become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Currently, Kohli is in action against New Zealand and his side would take on the hosts in the two-match Test series, slated to commence from February 21.

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